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Davis, Cousins, Holiday out-gun Trail Blazers

Portland comes up short in offensive game and after leading by eight points in third quarter

Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins and Jrue Holiday had monster games in leading the New Orleans Pelicans past the Trail Blazers 119-113 Friday night at Smoothie King Center.

Davis poured in 36 points to go with nine rebounds, Cousins collected 24 points, 19 rebounds and eight assists and Holiday chipped in 25 points, six assists, five rebounds and four steals for the Pelicans (21-20), who shot .534 from the field.

Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum each scored 23 points to lead five Portland players in double figures. Al-Farouq Aminu contributed 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Blazers (22-20), who also got 19 points from Jusuf Nurkic and 17 from Shabazz Napier.

"It was an offensive game, and we came up a little bit short," Portland coach Terry Stotts said.

New Orleans closed out the first quarter with a 20-6 run take a 31-25 lead after one quarter.

The Pelicans led 45-29 midway through the second quarter. The Blazers outscored them 32-16 the rest of the way to go into halftime even up at 61-61. Lillard had 15 points, Nurkic 13 and Al-Farouq Aminu 12 for the Blazers at the break.

Portland opened a 75-67 lead to start the third quarter. New Orleans rallied to go ahead 83-80 late in the quarter. The Pelicans' edge was 88-86 heading into the final period.

Davis' three-point play gave New Orleans a 103-99 advantage with five minutes to play. After an exchange of baskets, Nurkic's layup drew Portland to within 105-103 with 4:21 to go.

Davis hit a 20-footer, Cousins dunked and New Orleans' lead was 109-103 with 2:50 left. Shabazz Napier's layup cut the difference to 109-105 with two minutes remaining. Holiday's jumper and a Davis hook stoked the Pelicans' lead to 113-105 with 1:18 to go. The Blazers got no closer than six points the rest of the way.

NOTES — Portland closes its four-game road trip Sunday night at Minnesota. … Portland stayed a half-game ahead of New Orleans in the tight NBA Western Conference race for the playoffs. … The Blazers went with a three-guard starting lineup for the first time this season with Lillard, McCollum and Napier. "They've been a good threesome all year, and this was a chance to get them some more minutes," Stotts said. … Lillard was only 2 for 11 from 3-point range for the Blazers, who were 12 for 42 (.286) from beyond the stripe. … Davis had 23 points in the second half. … The Blazers have scored at least 110 points in each of their last seven games. … The Blazers had beaten the Pelicans in 10 of their previous 15 meetings. Cousins had 38 points and eight boards while Lillard had 29 points and eight assists in the last matchup between the teams, a 123-116 New Orleans victory at Moda Center on Dec. 2.